Skyrocketing UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson shocked possibly the UFC’s most talented division when he knocked out former champion Johny Hendricks in the first round of UFC Fight Night 82 last night from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Coming into the fight at No. 8, Thompson exhibited world-class striking range that simply had
Skyrocketing UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson shocked possibly the UFC’s most talented division when he knocked out former champion Johny Hendricks in the first round of UFC Fight Night 82 last night from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Coming into the fight at No. 8, Thompson exhibited world-class striking range that simply had “Bigg Rigg” neutralized in the Octagon after an early first round takedown attempt. The much shorter Hendricks ever got his once-vaunted power punching going, and instead ate a monstrously precise straight left that opened up the floodgates for one of Thompson’s trademark spinning kicks, after which a flurry of punches caused a surprisingly quick stoppage to the fight.
‘Wonderboy’ called out for a title shot versus Robbie Lawler following his biggest MMA win, and after he handled the former champ with such ease, and it might be tough to deny him at this point. However, there are a slew of top contenders like Rory MacDonald, Tyron Woodley, and Carlos Condit ranked ahead of him, and all of them would certainly make for exciting match-ups that could decide the next title challenger. He could also face the winner of May’s Demian Maia vs. Matt Brown, bout which would be a rematch of his only UFC loss if Brown were to win.
No matter what direction the UFC takes with their flashy star in the making, the future is bright for ‘Wonderboy’ and his next fight will be a pivotal one. Whom do you think he should meet in the Octagon?
A few weeks removed from her hosting gig on “Saturday Night Live,” Ronda Rousey find herself in the spotlight, yet again.
This time, however, she will have more eyeballs on her, as the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s …
This time, however, she will have more eyeballs on her, as the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s bantamweight title holder stars in a Bud Light Super Bowl commercial alongside Hollywood heavy hitters and comedic stars, Seth Rogen and Amy Schumer.
As you can see in the video embedded above, “Rowdy” stars as a tough-as-nails private security guard tasked with guarding Rogen and Schumer from the media. But, as you can see, even one half of the comedic duo couldn’t escape Rousey’s wrath.
The ad will appear during today’s (Sat., Sept. 7, 2016) Super Bowl 50 football game which will see Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers take on the Peyton Manning and Denver Broncos for football bragging rights.
Super Bowl 50 is estimated to snatch up over 117 million viewers.
On April 2nd, two leglock legends will collide as Garry Tonon has signed up to face Rousimar Palhares at Polaris 3. Polaris 3 just got a whole lot more interesting. Garry Tonon has signed up to face former WSOF champion Rousimar Palhares in …
On April 2nd, two leglock legends will collide as Garry Tonon has signed up to face Rousimar Palhares at Polaris 3.
Polaris 3 just got a whole lot more interesting. Garry Tonon has signed up to face former WSOF champion Rousimar Palhares in the main event of UK based grappling competition. Tonon has appeared at Polaris’ first two shows, submitting Marcin Held at Polaris 1 and leglocking the great Imanari at Polaris 2. Rousimar Palhares has been away from the limelight since being stripped of his World Series of Fighting title in August, after an unsporting performance against Jake Shields.
Over the last 3 years, Garry Tonon has climbed from relative anonymity to become one of the most popular names in the world of submission grappling. Tonon, the 3 time EBI champion, has shown himself to be among the best submission only grapplers on the planet, but he will be up for a stiff test against Palhares. While Palhares is primarily known for his MMA exploits, the Brazilan has also got a solid grappling acumen, which includes winning an ADCC medal in 2011.
Ever the showman, Tonon has already began promoting the fight by making a series of videos about Palhares. Check out Tonon’s preparations for the match right here:
Tonon will be giving up a massive size advantage when he faces Palhares, but a victory over the Brazilian would really garner a lot of attention for Tonon, who is planning to take a MMA fight in 2016.
After an exciting UFC Fight Night 82: “Hendricks vs Thompson” event, MMAmania.com ponders what is next for the main card winners who picked up victories last Saturday night (Feb., 6, 2016) on FOX Sports 1 inside MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevad…
After an exciting UFC Fight Night 82: “Hendricks vs Thompson” event, MMAmania.com ponders what is next for the main card winners who picked up victories last Saturday night (Feb., 6, 2016) on FOX Sports 1 inside MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) hosted an entertaining UFC Fight Night 82 mixed martial arts (MMA) card from inside MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada last night (Sat., Feb. 6, 2016), featuring a high stakes main event between Top-10 welterweights Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson.
What occurred in the night’s headliner was nothing short of breathtaking. Thompson picked up the biggest victory (video) of his professional career — and a sweet $50,000 check — for stopping the former 170-pound champion Hendricks with strikes just over three minutes into round one.
In the co-main event, struggling heavyweight veteran Roy Nelson scored a much-needed win (video) over standout wrestler Jared Rosholt. “Big Country” never found the homerun shot, but “Big Show” was never really a threat during the entirety of their exchange.
With that quick recap of last night’s marquee bouts, it’s now time to play matchmaker with our “Next Matches To Make.”
Winner: Stephen Thompson Who Should He Fight Next: Robbie Lawler
I think we can all agree that Thompson is for real. Thompson downed Hendricks like it was nothing, becoming the first fighter to finish Hendricks.
Not only did he showcase his magnificent striking prowess, but his takedown defense was on point too. The kickboxing veteran never threw himself into harm’s way and fought very intelligently.
With that being said, Thompson needs to fight for the title now. Why? Because any other fight — outside of one with Carlos Condit — with a Top-5 contender will be woefully painfully to watch.
I’m looking at you Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia.
Sure, UFC can go that route and perhaps it entices “The Natural Born Killer” to end retirement talks, but I’m pretty sure the promotion doesn’t want to miss out on capitalizing on such an explosive title fight.
As we saw in his second title defense, a complicated striker can confuse “Ruthless” and Thompson showed that he’s more than ready for a step up in competition.
Winner: Roy Nelson Who Should He Fight Next: Andrei Arlovski
Good ol’ company man Roy Nelson has yet to turn down, or pull out of, a fight in his six-year tenure with UFC. It’s been a rather rocky road, though, since his knockout of Brendan Schaub to claim The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10 title in Dec. 2009.
When Nelson defeated Rosholt last night, he stopped the bleeding of a three-fight losing streak. Overall, that brings Nelson’s record in his last seven bouts to 2-5.
Obviously that had much to do with competition and Nelson has faced the best that there is out there. It’s certainly not a label that the Las Vegas native would like to have, but he’s pretty much solidified himself as the premier gatekeeper in the heavyweight division.
However, that still doesn’t mean he won’t continue to draw marquee names and I have the perfect one for him in Arlovski. Considering Nelson made mention of going on the cliche “revenge tour” prior to his his tilt in Japan with Josh Barnett last September, I think it makes sense to slot him against “Pit Bull.”
The former heavyweight titleholder lost in devastating fashion his last time out against the red-hot Stipe Miocic and he could use a good bounce back fight. Why not the durable, battle-tested veteran Nelson?
Their first meeting took place in Oct. 2008 with Arlovski scoring the second-round knockout.
Winner: Ovince Saint Preux Who Should He Fight Next: Jimi Manuwa
It wasn’t pretty, but “OSP” got the job done in the Octagon when he ousted the clearly beaten Rafael Cavalcante. The former Tennessee Volunteer was unable to carry momentum he gained from rocking “Feijao” in round one into the latter stages of their bout on FOX Sports 1.
What ensued was a wrestling-heavy approach, perhaps because Saint Preux appeared to have injured his foot in round one on a kick. Regardless, the Haitian-American is back on the winning track after a less-than-impressive outing against former 205-pound title challenger Glover Teixeira back in August.
After calling for the likes of Rashad Evans and Jimi Manuwa last October, I believe he’ll draw “Poster Boy.” When looking at the lay of the land at light heavyweight, Saint Preux has already faced off with — and lost to — Teixeira and Ryan Bader.
The Tennessee resident is certainly not ready for anyone higher than that duo, plus everyone else is booked, so a tussle with the returning Manuwa the most sense. The Brit’s lone losses in UFC have come against the best in the division, Anthony Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson.
This fight would likely determine who’s for real and who gets left behind.
Winner: Joseph Benavidez Who Should He Fight Next: Demetrious Johnson
At this point, does Benavidez really need to fight anyone else before earning a third shot at the champ “Mighty Mouse?” The only contenders he hasn’t fought are either moving up a weight class, or named Jussier Formiga and Kyoji Horiguchi.
And I doubt UFC listens to Wilson Reis’ calls for a crack at “Joe Jitsu.”
The Team Alpha Male product defeated former Division-I wrestler and bonafide tough out Zach Makovsky with relative ease. Benavidez has proven time and time again that it’s extremely hard to keep him grounded for anything more than a few seconds and his boxing has greatly improved.
With an 11-2 UFC record in tow, and his only two Octagon losses coming to the pound-for-pound star Johnson, it’s hard to deny him. But with former Olympian Henry Cejudo slated to fight for the 125-pound strap at UFC 197 in April, Benavidez may face some time on the sidelines.
Should he choose to wait it out is up to him.
Winner: Misha Cirkunov Who Should He Fight Next: Daniel Omielanczuk/Jarjis Danho winner
With six wins in-a-row and an alarming finishing rate, it goes without saying that the Latvian powehouse deserves a step up in competition. But I think UFC decides to give him one more opponent with roughly the same amount of Octagon experience.
Assuming Cirkunov has no outstanding injuries, following his jaw-breaking, second-round dismissal (video) of Alex Nicholson, I’d call for him to face the winner of the UFC Fight Night 84 contest between the esteemed Polish grappler Omielanczuk and the debuting heavy-handed Syrian Danho.
Both fighters are equally adept at finishing their opponents, but they also represent different challenges. As the Toronto-based Cirkunov looks to better himself on the feet, a showdown with “Man Mountain” could be the breakthrough fight he needs to see if he’s truly grown in that department.
A bout with Omielanczuk, who has won nine fights via submission, would also be a welcomed Octagon jaunt.
I would’ve preferred to match Cirkunov up with the winner of Gabriel Gonzaga/Ruslan Magomedov, but that tussle is taking place in April.
Winner: Mike Pyle Who Should He Fight Next: Court McGee
What can you say about Pyle? He may be over-the-hill at 40 years old, but he’s damn tough.
“Quicksand” looked dead in the water in round one after he was dropped by the former Golden Gloves boxing champion Sean Spencer. However, the tide quickly turned in round two as Pyle settled down and utilized better movement to counter the aggressiveness of the Texas-based Spencer.
Then, in round three, when Spencer was beginning to slow down, the veteran of 39 professional fights turned up the heat, landing a blistering combination of elbows and knees (video) to score the finish.
At this point in his 16-year career, Pyle is still a threat to finish a fight at anytime and he can never be discounted. A solid match-up for him would be against TUF 11 winner Court McGee, who returned to UFC after a two-year absence to earn a unanimous-decision win over Marcio Alexandre Jr. last December.
“The Crusher” has always been talented, but injuries have slowed his ascent up the 170-pound ladder. Give him Pyle and see how quickly — and if — he can get Pyle out of there.
For complete UFC Fight Night 82: “Hendricks vs Thompson” results and coverage of all the night’s action click here.
Stephen Thompson shocked the world by dispatching Johny Hendricks in a manner few if any expected. He’s clearly a #1 contender if not the #1 contender at welterweight. What his future means along with everyone else at UFN 82 in Vegas in six easy tweets.
UFN 82 in Vegas was a slog for most of its duration, but the main event turned into such a blistering cherry on top that you’d be hard pressed to hear anyone complain about whether or not their time was well spent. Let’s break this down in six easy tweets shall we?
What more can you ask for? Tito Ortiz’ ability to string words together like one prematurely teleported item in the Fly telepod to the next is unique anywhere in professional sports.
It’s quite possible that Tito has a word bag syndrome with sobering causes, so I’m still conflicted about poking fun at the guy, but these things happen in MMA.
Not to take away from Thompson’s performance though. I picked Thompson to win in our Toe to Toe Preview, which Phil did a brilliant job on the artwork for as usual. In it I said:
‘I think Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen Thompson will come down to how well Stephen adjusts away from the pocket. If he successfully anticipates Hendricks’ movement, he’ll be able to cut down on Hendricks’ chances to land while putting himself in a position to counter. To be honest, I see enough similarities in Carlos Condit to think Thompson is a good pick. It’s not about their similarities in styles, rather, their ability to land punches moving forward. Hendricks got caught with some big punches as the fight wore on, which is where his height kind of amplifies his lazy positioning.’
Which is fine. Pat on the back and all. Something I rarely have the luxury of experiencing. But Thompson took these elements and rolled them up in a pugilism ball of Sonic the Hedgehog velocity that Hendricks just couldn’t keep up with.
It’d be easy to dismiss this fight as a bad Hendricks performance. But as I’ll discuss in tomorrow’s sober play by play, nothing could be further from the truth. This was just a groundbreaking performance by Thompson. Simple as that. And the crazy part is that Thompson projects to be an awful stylistic matchup for welterweight’s current champ, Robbie Lawler. Needless to say, it’ll be interesting to see what happens from here.
Roy Nelson picked up a win over Jared Rosholt, and I’m not sure if it exceeded low expectations, or fell short of absent ones.
Whatever the case, Nelson looked good defending the takedown, and threatening in intervals. It’s clear that Rosholt is still a work in progress. There’s no need to be down on the guy if you consider Nelson to have a decent amount of remaining stridency to his game. But he needs to ditch the old school mentality of ‘if then’ offense. There was never any attempt to get Nelson scrambling. As a result, Rosholt is back to the drawing board where he awaits his brother’s fate if he doesn’t.
3. Joe ‘Marino’ Benavidez
Is Joe Benavidez the best lighter-weight fighter never to hold a major title? 24-0 when not fighting Demetrious Johnson or Dominick Cruz.
Makovsky looked a bit better than I anticipated. But he looked as efficient as expected, unable to counter Benavidez’ offense or momentum. At this point, Benavidez can’t do much more than he’s done already. He has the talent to become the face of an organization. That won’t happen, of course. But still. At this point Benavidez will hope that through sheer force of will, the UFC will have no choice but consider a Demetrious Johnson rematch (should Johnson beat Cejudo). If they could do it for Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock, right? Or Andrei Alorvksis and Tim Sylvia?
4. Jawslayer
I love how nonchalantly Cirkunov talks about cracking another man’s jaws with his biceps. What a barbarian.
There’s not a whole lot to say about Cirkunov’s performance other than to just listen to the excruciating sound of someone getting their jaw snapped. Cirkunov has a ceiling that is potentially higher than someone like Ryan Bader, so if Bader could put together a string of wins like he has, Cirkunov might be able to make some real noise.
I really expected Spencer to pull this one of. To me, Pyle has been a declining fighter who even in his prime had trouble with unheralded specialists. But boy did he and his mullet pull out all the stops in this one. Spencer just couldn’t deal with the abundance of spinning lettuce and tomato shit being thrown at him.
Credit to Justin Scoggins; another fighter I failed to pick correctly. Ray Borg’s grappling tunnel vision contributed to his downfall, but it was more about how Scoggins was blending his grappling with his boxing in a way that didn’t feel scatterbrained. Neither fighter has much to be ashamed. Both are a combined age just barely above Mike Pyle. They’ll progress and get better as their careers wear on. On to some stray observations..
CM Punk made an appearance after Mickey Gall’s win over MMA photographer Mike Jackson. Not sure what to say. CM Punk doesn’t really tingle the freakshow senses like it’s supposed to. Maybe because he’s always injured and this was a bad signing to begin with? I’ve got nothing against Punk. His situation is just badly juxtaposed with the ridiculous Aljamain Sterling thing.
K.J. Noons is done. He has the demeanor of a shot fighter, briefly generating offense, but extensively soaking up opposing offense with a tepid shell defense.
Thanks Derrick Lewis. You’ve managed to represent some horror movie version of your nickname with that post fight celebration, effectively rendering it free of its otherwise awkward stereotypes.
Stephen Thompson shocked the world by dispatching Johny Hendricks in a manner few if any expected. He’s clearly a #1 contender if not the #1 contender at welterweight. What his future means along with everyone else at UFN 82 in Vegas in six easy tweets.
UFN 82 in Vegas was a slog for most of its duration, but the main event turned into such a blistering cherry on top that you’d be hard pressed to hear anyone complain about whether or not their time was well spent. Let’s break this down in six easy tweets shall we?
What more can you ask for? Tito Ortiz’ ability to string words together like one prematurely teleported item in the Fly telepod to the next is unique anywhere in professional sports.
It’s quite possible that Tito has a word bag syndrome with sobering causes, so I’m still conflicted about poking fun at the guy, but these things happen in MMA.
Not to take away from Thompson’s performance though. I picked Thompson to win in our Toe to Toe Preview, which Phil did a brilliant job on the artwork for as usual. In it I said:
‘I think Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen Thompson will come down to how well Stephen adjusts away from the pocket. If he successfully anticipates Hendricks’ movement, he’ll be able to cut down on Hendricks’ chances to land while putting himself in a position to counter. To be honest, I see enough similarities in Carlos Condit to think Thompson is a good pick. It’s not about their similarities in styles, rather, their ability to land punches moving forward. Hendricks got caught with some big punches as the fight wore on, which is where his height kind of amplifies his lazy positioning.’
Which is fine. Pat on the back and all. Something I rarely have the luxury of experiencing. But Thompson took these elements and rolled them up in a pugilism ball of Sonic the Hedgehog velocity that Hendricks just couldn’t keep up with.
It’d be easy to dismiss this fight as a bad Hendricks performance. But as I’ll discuss in tomorrow’s sober play by play, nothing could be further from the truth. This was just a groundbreaking performance by Thompson. Simple as that. And the crazy part is that Thompson projects to be an awful stylistic matchup for welterweight’s current champ, Robbie Lawler. Needless to say, it’ll be interesting to see what happens from here.
Roy Nelson picked up a win over Jared Rosholt, and I’m not sure if it exceeded low expectations, or fell short of absent ones.
Whatever the case, Nelson looked good defending the takedown, and threatening in intervals. It’s clear that Rosholt is still a work in progress. There’s no need to be down on the guy if you consider Nelson to have a decent amount of remaining stridency to his game. But he needs to ditch the old school mentality of ‘if then’ offense. There was never any attempt to get Nelson scrambling. As a result, Rosholt is back to the drawing board where he awaits his brother’s fate if he doesn’t.
3. Joe ‘Marino’ Benavidez
Is Joe Benavidez the best lighter-weight fighter never to hold a major title? 24-0 when not fighting Demetrious Johnson or Dominick Cruz.
Makovsky looked a bit better than I anticipated. But he looked as efficient as expected, unable to counter Benavidez’ offense or momentum. At this point, Benavidez can’t do much more than he’s done already. He has the talent to become the face of an organization. That won’t happen, of course. But still. At this point Benavidez will hope that through sheer force of will, the UFC will have no choice but consider a Demetrious Johnson rematch (should Johnson beat Cejudo). If they could do it for Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock, right? Or Andrei Alorvksis and Tim Sylvia?
4. Jawslayer
I love how nonchalantly Cirkunov talks about cracking another man’s jaws with his biceps. What a barbarian.
There’s not a whole lot to say about Cirkunov’s performance other than to just listen to the excruciating sound of someone getting their jaw snapped. Cirkunov has a ceiling that is potentially higher than someone like Ryan Bader, so if Bader could put together a string of wins like he has, Cirkunov might be able to make some real noise.
I really expected Spencer to pull this one of. To me, Pyle has been a declining fighter who even in his prime had trouble with unheralded specialists. But boy did he and his mullet pull out all the stops in this one. Spencer just couldn’t deal with the abundance of spinning lettuce and tomato shit being thrown at him.
Credit to Justin Scoggins; another fighter I failed to pick correctly. Ray Borg’s grappling tunnel vision contributed to his downfall, but it was more about how Scoggins was blending his grappling with his boxing in a way that didn’t feel scatterbrained. Neither fighter has much to be ashamed. Both are a combined age just barely above Mike Pyle. They’ll progress and get better as their careers wear on. On to some stray observations..
CM Punk made an appearance after Mickey Gall’s win over MMA photographer Mike Jackson. Not sure what to say. CM Punk doesn’t really tingle the freakshow senses like it’s supposed to. Maybe because he’s always injured and this was a bad signing to begin with? I’ve got nothing against Punk. His situation is just badly juxtaposed with the ridiculous Aljamain Sterling thing.
K.J. Noons is done. He has the demeanor of a shot fighter, briefly generating offense, but extensively soaking up opposing offense with a tepid shell defense.
Thanks Derrick Lewis. You’ve managed to represent some horror movie version of your nickname with that post fight celebration, effectively rendering it free of its otherwise awkward stereotypes.
When Royce Gracie first met Ken Shamrock in the semi-finals of UFC 1 on Nov. 12, 1993, he was an unknown 26-year-old Brazilian submission fighter.
Today, the world’s most famous mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter says he could defeat his younger self, a bold statement for a man nearly nine years removed from the sport.
In two short weeks the men involved in that historic fight that took place more than 22 years ago will rematch in the main event of Bellator 149, a prospect which enticed the legendary fighter out of retirement and back inside a cage.
“I guess the guy’s been losing sleep for, what, the last 20 years since I choked him out in less than a minute?” Gracie said recently to Inside MMA’s Bas Rutten on AXS TV.
Gracie admitted…
When Royce Gracie first met Ken Shamrock in the semi-finals of UFC 1 on Nov. 12, 1993, he was an unknown 26-year-old Brazilian submission fighter.
Today, the world’s most famous mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter says he could defeat his younger self, a bold statement for a man nearly nine years removed from the sport.
In two short weeks the men involved in that historic fight that took place more than 22 years ago will rematch in the main event of Bellator 149, a prospect which enticed the legendary fighter out of retirement and back inside a cage.
“I guess the guy’s been losing sleep for, what, the last 20 years since I choked him out in less than a minute?” Gracie said recently to Inside MMA’s Bas Rutten on AXS TV.
